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UPDATE: Liberty Belles team finishes in top 10 at Air Race Classic

June 24, 2013 : By Ted Allen/Liberty University News Service

UPDATE - 6/24/2013:Liberty University’s team of Charity Holland, a School of Aeronautics instructor, and Jessica Dyer, a recent graduate, placed ninth out of 47 planes and fourth out of 13 college entries in the 37th annual All Women's Air Race Classic. They also earned the Fastest Piper award for being the first of the Piper Arrow planes to finish.

Also representing the Liberty Belles, juniors Megan Grupp and Jodi Jacob landed in 22nd place overall, posting the second-fastest time on leg No. 7 from Holdrege, Neb., to La Junta, Col., and the third-fastest time on leg No. 3 from Logan, Utah, to Rawlins, Wyo.

Liberty Belles set to soar in four-day, 2,460-mile Air Race Classic

The Liberty Belles (left to right): Coach Sarah Morris; School of Aeronautics juniors and team members Jodi Jacob and Megan Grupp; team members Charity Holland, SOA instructor pilot, and Jessica Dyer, recent SOA graduate; and SOA dispatcher Ariana Knight.

Liberty University School of Aeronautics instructor pilot Charity Holland (left) and recent graduate Jessica Dyer in a self-portrait from the cockpit of their low-wing Piper Arrow as they fly over Wyoming on Thursday en route to Pasco, Wash., for Tuesday's start of the Air Race Classic.

Liberty Belles’ second-year coach Sarah Morris, who flew on Jacksonville University’s winning team in 2011, said the experience is an adrenaline rush.

“It’s intense flying,” she said. “You’re traveling the country with 45 other (pairs of) women in airplanes, so if you know anything about flying and traffic, people are everywhere.”

Juniors Jodi Jacob and Megan Grupp are piloting a high-wing Cessna Skyhawk; Charity Holland, a School of Aeronautics instructor pilot, and Jessica Dyer, a recent graduate, are operating a low-wing Piper Arrow. Their dispatcher is sophomore Ariana Knight.

The race takes off on June 18 from Tri-Cities Airport in Pasco, Wash., before making its 10th and final landing June 21 at Drake Field Airport in Fayetteville, Ark. (Follow the Liberty Belles on their Facebook page.)

“Historically, aviation was male-dominated for many, many years,” said retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. David Young, dean of Liberty’s SOA, who noted women now make up 15 percent of the school’s students. “We’ve been truly blessed with the quality of the ladies we’ve had in our program.”

Liberty University School of Aeronautics juniors Jodi Jacob (left) and Megan Grupp leave Iowa and fly over South Dakota in a self-portrait taken Tuesday from the cockpit of their high-wing Cessna Skyhawk.

Last year was the Liberty Belles’ first time entering the race, placing 27th and 28th out of 42 finishing teams.

“This race is just one factor in their development,” Young said. “But it’s also encouraging, because other young ladies who are interested in aviation say, ‘Oh, that’s something that I can do. I never dreamed that I could do that.’”

Participants are required to attend pre-race briefings that cover fuel planning, weather, fly-bys, and emergencies. Morris has prepared the Liberty Belles to deal with unexpected weather patterns and adjust their flight schedules accordingly.

“I think the biggest challenge is just making good decisions,” she said. “Every decision is a little bit of a risk. You might lose the opportunity to have good winds and have a better ground speed or you might come up against weather.”

Dyer said she is eager to put her training to the test.

“It’s a lot of thinking ahead, being prepared, thinking ‘OK, we’re going to wake up at the crack of dawn, we’re going to be out at the airport and ready.’ We have so many items we have to do and (the challenge will be) just splitting up the tasks evenly so everything gets done in the shortest amount of time possible,” she said.

Morris said this year’s teams have worked well together to streamline logistics and develop flight plans.

“They’re a great group,” she said. “They’re eager to learn. They have a lot of creative ideas and we’re just kind of open to anything that will make us go faster.”

The race is open to fixed-wing aircraft ranging from 145 to 570 horsepower, with a handicap system leveling the field.

The teams have four days to complete the 10-stage course that travels over Washington state, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, traversing stretches of the Rocky Mountains.

The first plane to land in Fayetteville, Ark., is not necessarily the winner as total flight time is the determining factor. Pilots can take advantage of favorable winds and weather conditions to fly multiple stages on one day and fewer the next, but must land at their day’s destination by sunset each night.

Liberty University School of Aeronautics will have another chance to promote women in aviation when it hosts the last of this month’s three “Women Can Fly” events in Virginia on June 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at its Freedom Aviation hangar at Lynchburg Regional Airport. The event is co-sponsored by Virginia’s Department of Aviation, Ninety-Nines, Inc. (an international organization of women pilots), Lynchburg Regional Airport, Freedom Aviation, and Liberty University.

“We’re encouraging young ladies, all the way from the age of 8 and up to come out,” Young said. “We’re going to be giving them flights, simulator rides, touring the tower, teaching about aircraft maintenance and all aspects of aviation.”

The event is free, but girls or women who wish to take a free ride, must register in advance at www.womencanfly.org.

Fundraising for the Liberty Belles’ participation in the Air Race Class is ongoing as estimated cost for both teams to compete is $20,000. Contact Dave Young at (434) 455-4901 or by email at dlyoung@liberty.edu to donate.

Victory FM contributed to this report. Listen to a radio interview at victoryfm.net.